Foreshadowing

In chapter two, the narrator mentions that Robert Cohn had been reading a book called The Purple Land. "The Purple Land is a very sinister book if read too late in life" (page 17). In addition, Cohn not only read this book, but he read and reread it. The fact that Cohn took this as a guide-book to what life holds leads me to believe that this is foreshadowing his character for the rest of the book. My guess is that throughout this book Cohn will not be satisfied with his life. He will probably spend his time trying to find more in life, but he already has his expectations set too high. After reading The Purple Land, he has an ideal life in mind; however, sadly I think he will be disappointed due to his high expectations. Another reason I suspect this will be his fate is because he spends this chapter complaining about his life. He then tries to convince Jake to travel with him to South America. He has a short mid-life crisis as he realizes he wants more out of life.